great facility. the place looks fantastic inside - perhaps the nicest bbq joint i've ever been to. it wants for nothing in terms of amenities, and the kitchen is prepared to cook 2,000 pounds of meat every 10 hours if need be using nothing but pecan wood.
ate there as part of a very large group, which apparently didn't even faze the team there. everything i had was perfectly cooked in terms of temperature, and i mean perfectly. brisket sliced as thin as they do is extremely difficult to get right, and it was competition-grade in terms of appearance and tenderness.
if there was an area of weakness, it was in the flavor of the meat. much of it was not seasoned appreciably (the ribs were somewhat of an exception). you could faintly pick up the smoke flavor in the brisket and pork, and faintly pick up any seasoning they did use. with their sauces applied, it woke up, but at home for example, pork or brisket we cook is very flavorful without - not the case in many restaurants, and not the case here.
the baked beans are different, and may take warming up to, but i did enjoy them (if not perhaps slightly under-cooked?). i also enjoyed the potato salad, which uses sliced potatoes rather than cubed / chopped chunks.
i was very disappointed in both the sausage and hot link - they were bland, dryish, and unremarkable - definitely didn't meet expectations there.
joe was kind enough to address the group and explain his operation, he attended to our every need and oversaw every detail, and executed the technical side of things flawlessly. it's tough to give a guy advice who prominently displays his numerous grand championships - you can't argue with success - but cooking for a restaurant full of people isn't like cooking for a competition. my two cents - don't be stingy on the rubs, and get some charcoal going with the pecan (or use more of it) so we can really pick up those flavors.